Circular-knitting machine



. 1,631,817 June 7 1927' H. E. HousEMAN CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 2v, 192s 2 sneetssnee. I1

mmm I c l 1,631,817 June 7' 1927' H. E. HousEMAN A CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 27, 1926 2 Sheets-snee*v 2 #mf/vrv lqdro/allfgyfousemlz'z A v u um M 7 Patented June 7, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT y OFFICE. Y

IvAROLD E. HOUSEMAN, 0F VILMINGTON, DEL/AWARE, ASSIGNOR T0 STANDARD- TRUMP BROTHERS MACHINE COMPANY, 0F WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A COR- ronATroN or DELAWARE.

CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINE.

Application led April 27, 1926. Serial No. 104,883.

In circular knitting machines adaptedf for the manufacture of hosiery, means have been devised to produce longitudinal stripe effects along both the front and rear ofthe stocking and along the top of the foot, while eliminating such effects from the heck-toe and bottom of the foot. One known means of producing a stripe is to knit the stocking of two threads, one of which is known as a body yarn and the other of which is known as a plating yarn. These threads are differently positioned but those (regular) needles that are not to produce the striping effect are drawn down at Asuch a point in the rotation of the needle cylinder that the needles will engage both threads and knit them in together. Those (special) needles that are to producethe striping effect are drawn down in advance ofthe point at which the regular needles are drawn down, and are drawn down at such a point that they will engage one rof the threads but not the other. The thread that is not engaged will therefore float across the fabric and only the thread that `is engaged by the special needles will form loops.

rThe special needles above mentioned are usually equipped with extra butts, or jacks are secured thereto. This involves a lengthening of the needles, afconsequent lengtheningof trie needle cylinder, and the provision of special cams for operating the extra butts or jacks and special' mechanism for operating these cams. This involves not only additional expense, but also a substantial addition to the needle operating mechanism. It is also well known that machines so equipped for lproducing such striping effects must be operated at a reduced speed, thereby reducing' production. f

ln an application for patent iiledfby-.me December 3, 1924, Serial No. 753,562, l disclose a means for producingthis fabric comprising, in general, needles provided with butts of different lengths and some of them with shoulders of different lengths and a stitch cam having an overhanging portion adapted to engage the shoulders `of shouldered needles to prematurely depresssaid needles and thereby cause them to escape engagement with the yarn, the stitch cam being radally movable into, different positions to cause the supplemental camto engage some or'all or none of the shouldered needles. These needles may be produced at no higher cost than standard needles,

vthe needle cylinder need not be elongated. Only the regular knitting cams (except for the above mentioned modification of one cam) are required, and the machine may be safely operatedat the'same speed at which it is possible to safely'operate a machine equipped for plain knitting.

The specific construction disclosed in my said application is completely operative, but care must be taken to accurately proportion the lengths of needle'butts with relation to the width of the overhang of the stitch cam. Otherwise, difficulty may be encountered, aft-er leveling, in restoring the needles to knitting position. To so operate the needles, the stitch cam is first moved inward while opposite short butt needles until its inward movement is arrested by such short butts. After the short butt needles ride beyond the cam, the butts of the long butt needles successively engage the cam and are depressed thereby. Unless, however, the difference in length between long butts and short butts is greater than the width of the overhanging part of the stitch cam, the long butt needles will not ride under that part of the stitch cam below the overhang and therefore will notknit; or only the extreme end of the butt may underride the lower part4 of the stitch cam, which is undesirable because of the danger of bending the needles. Other factors, however, impose a limitation on the length of the long butts. It is quite possible, however, to make the needle butts and cams of such dimensions and proportions as to avoid any serious trouble in the operation of the machine. However, it is desirable, from the standpoint of both the manufacturer and the user, to as far as possible avoid the use of mechanism whose operativeness is dependent upon exactitude or nicety of measurements and proportions, it being advantageous if the construction is such as to allow for slight variations or` errors.

The object of the present invention is to accomplish lall the objects and attain all the advantages of the construction forming the subject-matter of my said application, while avoiding the necessity of an undesirable degree of precision in the manufacture of the needles, Most of the structural features of my said application may be retained without change, the only substantial alteration befng in the construction of the stitch cam. The construction and operation of the machine, without special reference to the novel feature, will first be described, and the function and advantage of the new stitch cam will then be particularly stated.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation showing a number of the needles, the needle actuating cams and the yarn fingers.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the needle cylinder, the stitch cam and the mechanism for operating the latter.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the four types of needles embodied in the machine.

Fig. 4 'is a diagram showing the relative positions of the four different types of needles and the stitch cam during the knitting of different parts of a stocking.

Fig. 5 is a developed view of the pattern cam for controlling the position of the stitch cam.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of stitch cam.

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of a slightly modified needle.

Verticallv slidable in the rotatable needle cylinder a are the needles (hereinafter particularly described). ln Fig. 1, one of the yarn carriers Z1 is shown projected into the throat of the latch ring c, in position to enable yarn fed therefrom to be engaged by the needles. In the same figure is shown a gro-up of cams, which are constructed and arranged in the usual way except that the construction of the stitch cam cl, '0, x, has been modi-fied, hereinafter described. Then'iovable part of the stitch cam is op` the new 1 erable by known mechanism; namely, a

slide @movable radially inward by means of a spring and movable radially outward by means of a bell crank lever g; the latter being swingable by means of a` vertically movable post 7i, which is actuatable by a cam on a pattern disc' i. Substantially this same mechanism for operating the stitch cam is shown in certain patents; for eX- ample, the H. A. Houseman Patent No.

' 1,207,757, dated December' 12, 1916, except that in the present machine there is 4provided a special cam (shown developed in Fig. 5) on the pattern dise and hereinafter described.

I shall first describe the customary means for forming longitudinal stripes referred to in general language in the introductory part of this specification. From theyarn carrier [rare fed two yarns, one a body yarn 10 and the other a plating yarn 11 (see Fig. 1). The regular needles and the special (striping) needles approach these yarns at the saine height, but the special needles start to move down at a point in advance of the point at which the regular needles startto move down. The positions of the two yarns 10 and 11 are such that the hooks of the regular needles, in their downward movement, successively engage both yarns 10 and 11, while the hooks of the special needles, after engaging one of the yarns, say the body yarn 10, start to move down so far in advance ofy the point at which the regular needles start to move down-that the special needles do not engage the plating yarn 11. The plating yarn 11 is therefore not knit into the fabric, but floats across it. toward the outside face of the knitted fabric, the body yarn 10 is largely concealed by the plating yarn 11, except along the wales wherein the loops are formed wholly by the body yarn 10. In that part of the fabric, the more conspicuous yarn is the body yarn. Obviously, if these two yarns are of different color, or are otherwise differentiated, the effect produced is lthat of a stripe.

The described customary method, so far as described, for forming longitudinal. stripes by plating, is followed in the present invention, which, however, involves also the use of specially constructed needles, a stitch cam of new design, and a specially formed cam on the bottom disc for controlling the positions of the movable part of the stitch cam.

These new and special features are also disclosed in my said application, Serial No. 753,562, except that the stitch cam herein shown is differently constructed and is composed of two parts, namely, a radially movable part d, n, and a fixed part w, as hereinafter' described.

As usual, there are providedtwo banks of needles, one-half of which, (which l shall call the front bank) are adapted to knit the front half of the leg and the top ofthe foot, and the other half of-which (which I shall call. the rear bank) are adapted to knit the rear half of the leg, the heel, the bottom of the foot, and the toe. Each bank of needles is composed of regular needles and special needles. In Fig-3, m is one of the Vregmlar needles of the front bank, n one of the special needles of the front bank; o one of the regular needles of the rear bank; and p one of the special needles of the rear bank.

All the 'needles of the front kbank are provided with long butts fr,- but each of the special needles n is also provided with a shoulder s above its butt. All the needles of the rear bank are provided with short butts ,bu't each of the special needles is also provided with a shoulder u above its butt. The shoulders s of the special front needles n are wider than the shoulders u of the special rear needles p,

Thestitch cam (see particularly Fig. 6) is lcomposed of three parts. The main body d of the cam is widened, at its upper for- Ward corner, to provide a part o overhang Looking VThe remaining part of the stitch cam,

which is in effect another or supplemental cam, is located below d and 'o and has a i cam face that aligns with and forms a continuation of, the cam faces of d and y. The parts (Z and o are radially movable in unison toward and from the needle cylinder. vThe supplemental cam x is fixed, being supported by a stand e on the frame g/ in which the slide e moves.

In knitting striped hosiery, it is custom'- aiy to knit a short length of plain or unstriped welt. To knit this welt, the cam cfv is moved radially out until the part c entirely clears the shoulders s and u of the special needles of both banks, but so that the cam engages the but-ts (long and short) of all the needles, as shown in position III of Fig. 4. In this position of cam d/v, all

the needles will be operated at the same,

point in the circumference of the needle cylinder; and the downward movement of the special needles, as well as of the regular needles, will be delayed until they are in position to engage both yarns 10 and 11. The stationary part of the stitch cam (the supplemental cam m) is always in position to engage any needle butts that are engaged by the movable part of the cam, but will not engage any needle butts that escape engagement with the movable part of the cam, the butts of such last named needles riding above the level of cam m.

In knitting the stocking leg, it is usually desirable to form stripes both on the front and the rear of the stocking, for which reason the special needles, above described, are provided in both front and rear banks. Preparatory to knitting the leg, between the welt and the ankle, the cani do is moved radially to its f eXtreme inward position, as shown in Fig. 2 and in position V of Fig. 4. In this position of the stitch cam, the part o is in lineof travel ofthe shoulders (s and of the special needles of both front and rear banks. These shoulders .will be engaged by the movable part of the stitch cam En before the latter is engaged by the butts of theregular needles, as shown in Fig. l. Hence, all the special needles will move down at a point in the circumference of the needle cylinder in advance of the point at which the regular needles are moved down and hence will engage only the body yarn 10 and miss the plating yarn 1l, as hereinbefore described and as will be clear by an inspection of Fig. l. Therefore, longitudinal stripes will be formed on the front and back of the stocking. Preparatory to knitting the heel, it is desirable to knit a short length of circular fabric, from the rear of which the striping effect is omitted. To effect this, the movable cam' di) is moved radially outward just sufiiciently to cause the part o to clear the narrow shoulders n. of the special needles p of the rear bank, but not sufficiently to clear the wider shoulders s vof the special needles 'n of the front bank, as shown at position IV of Fig. 4. Consequently, only the special needles n of the fiont bank will be prematurely engaged by the stitch cam and only these needles will be given a premature downward inoveinentas they move opposite the yarn carrier, and hence stripes will be formed on the front of the stocking and not on the rear.

In order to knit the heel, the front bank of needles is moved up out of action in the usual way. Actuating mechanism for so "1 moving the needles m and n out of action is not herein shown, and forms no part of roy invention, but is well known in the art. The radial position of the stitch cam remains unchanged and as the part fu of the stitch cam is not in position to engage the shoulders u of the special needles n, no stripes will be formed in the heel.

In knitting the body, of the foot, the front needles m and n are restored to operative position, the radial position of the stitch cam remains unchanged, and the fabric is i knit with stripes on the top of the foot but not in the sole.. In other words, the same fabric is knit as is knitl preparatory to knitting the heel. See position IV of Fig. 4.

In knitting the toe, the front bank of needles is moved up out of action, as in knitting the heel. vThe position of the stitch cam remains unchanged and a plain fabric l" is formed in the toe as in the heel.

l As hereinbefore described, thel radial position of the movable part yof the stitch cam is controlled by a cam-way carried by the pattern disc 1I and shown developed in Fig. 5. lVhen the high part I of the pattern disc cam underrides post h, cam' de is moved to its extreme outward position, as shown at position'I of Fig. 4, thereby clearing thebutts of all the needles and allowing l them to be levelled. As the pattern cam disc advances, part IIIl of the pattern disc cam underrides post 7i., allowing spring f to move the cam clfv into position 1l of Figs. 4 and 5. This movement of cam d@ occurs while it isopposite the short butt needles, whose butts arrest the inward movement of lthe' cam. As soon, however, as the first of .the long butt needles reachthe cam,.their served that the butts of the long butt needles need not be suiciently longer than the butts of the short butt needles to enable them to overlap the part Z of the cam, because, just as soon as these long butts ride off the part u of the cam, they slide onto the broad face of the supplemental cam x, and in completing their downward movement, the needles are subjectto no strain tending to tilt or bend them.y As soon as the last of the short butt needles ride beyond the stitch cam, the inward Vmovement ofthe part do is completed and the full extent allowed by the part III of the pattern disc cam.

In the continued rotation of the needle cylinder, as soon as the first of the short butt needles approach the stitch cam, part fu is in position to engage their butts and depress them, as shown in position III of Fig. 4. rhe welt is now knit, as hereinbefore described.

After the welt is knit, part V of the pattern disc cam underrides post i. and allows it to drop to its lowest position, allowing spring f to move cam do into its extreme inward position, as shown in position V of Fig. 4t. After the leg is knit, part IV of the pattern disc underrides post 7L and lifts it so as to effect a slight outward movement of the cam do, as shown at position IV of Fig. if. This part of the pattern cam disc underrid'es the post 7b during the knitting' of the remainder of the stocking. III of the pattern disc cam then draws ca'm le to the same position that it occupied while under control of part III', so as to provide for the knitting of a few courses of plain knitting. Part I of the pattern disc cam then draws cam do into position to clear the butts of all the needles and allow the needles to be levelled.

rl`he construction and operation described do not differ from the construction and operation of the mechanism forming' the subject matter of my application Serial No. 753,562, except that in place of making the stitch 'cam in the usual form except for an added overhanging part similar to fu, I cut 'away the part of the main body al that extends below the overhang'ing part, and sub.- stitute a fixed supplemental cam x, which performs all the functions of the cut away portion of cam 0l and, in addition thereto, insures a completion of the downward movement of the long butt needles when, after leveling, it is desired to move them into knitting position; and also at this time affords a broad surface for engaging the needle to pull them down in the direction of their length and does not apply the force in a direction tending to bend or distort them. The fixed supplemental cam zu has the same function and advantage in respect to the `actuation of the short butt needles when they are moved from leveling position into knitting position., t

It should be `understood that my invention The part is not limitedto any special arrangement of thefdescribed regular and special long-butt andshort-butt-needles, nor to any such an arrangement of the needles as will produce n the striping effects described. In my said application Serial No. 753,562, I suggest several of many possible adaptations and modifications, which need not be herein repeated.

Shoulders S and u need not have the precise shapeindicated in Fig. 3, but maybe shaped differently so long as they perform the same function and havesubstantially the same mode of operation. For example, the shoulders need not be contiguous to the butts, but may be slightly spaced therefrom, as indicated at s inFig. 7

Having now fully described my invention,

what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. In a circular knitting machine, the combination of, needles provided with butts and some of which are provided with shoulders substantially shorter than the butts, certain of said shoulders being shorter than yother shoulders, a stitch cain adapted to engage needle butts to effect the depression of the needles, the stitch ycam comprising a movable member and relatively fixed member, theniovable member of the stitch cam havingv an element adapted to engage the lshoulders of shouldered needles to effect their depression at a. point in advance of the point of depression of other needles, the fixed member of the stitch cam being adapted to engage the needles depressed by `the movable member to complete their movement of depression, the movable member of the stitch cam being movable into one position tocause its shoulder-engaging element to engage the shoulders of all the shouldered needles and into another' position to cause its shoulderengaging element to engage onlythe wider shoulders and into still another position to cause its shoulder-engaging element to escape engagement with all the shoulders, and

pattern mechanism controlling the position of the stitch cam'.

2. Ina circular knitting machine, the combination of regular needles provided with butts, special needles provided with butts and with shoulders substantially shorter Vthan the butts, a stitch cam adapted to enlll in another position of the cam, of Vall said needles with the yarn, said fixed .member being adapted to engage the needles depressed by the movable member to complete their downward movement, and pattern mechanism controlling` the position of the stitch cam.

3. In a circular lmitting machine, the combination of regular needles provided with butts, special needles provided with butts and also with shoulders substantially shorter than the butts, a stitch cam adapted to engage needle butts to etl'ect depression of the needles7 said stitch cam also comprising an element adapted to engage the shoulders of special needles to eiiiect their depression at a point in advance of the point of depression of the regular needles, said stitch cam element being movable out oit and into the` path of travel of said shoulders, whereby all the needles or only the regular needles will knit the yarn into the fabric, another stitch cam mem-ber adapted to engage the needles depressed as hereinbefore stated and complete their downward movement, and pattern mechanism controlling the position of said stitch cam element.

4. In a circularv knitting machine, the combination with regular needles and special needles, of a radially movable stitch cam member adapted to depress all the needles, cooperating means carried respectively by said member and the special needles adapted, when said stitch cam member is in one radial position, to eiiect the depression of both regular and special needles while at the same time eiecting the depression of the special needles at a point in advance of the point of depression of the regular needles, another stitch cam member adapted to engage needles depressed as hereinbefore stated and complete their downward movement and pattern mechanism controlling movement of the radially movable member into and out of the last named position.

5. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with needles providedv with butts and some of which are provided with shoulders above the butts, of a stitch cam member adapted to engage said butts and depress the needles and provided with an overhanging portion in the path of travel of said shoulders and adapted to engage said shoulders at a point in advance of the engagement with the butts, thereby effecting the depression of the shouldered needles at a point in advance of the point of depression of the remaining needles, and another stitch cam member adapted to engage needles depressed as hereinbefore stated and complete their movement of depression.

6. In a circular knitting machine, the

combination with rotatable needles provided with butts and with shoulders above the butts, of a stitch cam one part of which has needles until the shoulders ride below it, the

butts thereafter engaging the second named downwardly inclined face and `completing their movement of depression, and means to move the firstA named part of thestitoh camV out of the path of travel of the needle shoulders, thereby delaying the initial downward movement of depression of the needles until their butts engage the stitch cam.

7. In a circular knitting machine the combination with needles each provided with two cam-engaging elements, of a movable cam member adapted, dependent on its position, to engage one or the other of said elements and partly depress the needles, and another relatively iiXed cam member adapted to engage the needles after they have been partly depressed by the other cam member and complete their movement oi" depression.

8. Circular knitting machine mechanism in accordance with claim 7 in which the relatively iXed cam member is adapted to engage yonly one of said needle elements regardless of which needle element has been engaged by the movable cam member.

9. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a slotted needle cylinder, of needles each having a but-t and a shoulder above the butt, the butts extending a substantially greater distance than the shoulders beyond the slots of theneedle cylinder, cam members adapted to cooperate to lower needles by acting successively upon their butts and also adapted to lower needles by acting one upon their shoulders and the other upon their butts, and means to move one cam member relatively to the other to enable said cam members to selectively actuate the same needle in either of said specied ways.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, Penna., on this 1st day of A ril, 1926.

HAROLD E. H USEMAN. 

